How To Pray On A Plane

The obligatory prayer cannot be skipped under any circumstances,. Whether you are at the park, on the side of the road, at work, on a boat, on a train, or even on a plane. However, praying may be a little difficult while traveling. Let's say you are on a plane and prayer needs to be performed. What should you do?

First, we must make sure we have all the preconditions before the prayer, such as having wudhu, correct clothing, and so on. We also must be sure that it is time to pray. This can be done by looking out the window, asking someone, or checking the display monitor. You do not go with the timetable from your own country, nor do you consider the time of your destination. It is the time you are experiencing at that very moment.

So, this means while you are in the air, you might be traveling across different zones and maybe different countries. You need to know the exact location and then determine the time when you need to pray. This may be a little difficult for some to find a location and exact time for prayer while in the air. So, it is advised to calculate and plan before you board onto the plane.

This is helpful because internet is limited and it prepares you for prayer and less likely to miss the prayer. Now we try and find the qiblah, the direction of the Ka'ba in Mecca. This can be done by asking the cabin crew or checking the seat monitor to determine the direction. If you are praying and the plane deviates from the direction of the qiblah, you should turn to the direction of the qiblah, but without saying any dhikr while moving. If you cannot find the direction and the time for prayer is too short, you should pray in any direction that you think is the correct one. Although some have said as a precaution, if you have more time, you should also pray in the other three directions too.

We also need permission to pray. Ask the flight crew and they will usually tell you to pray in a corner or they may even tell you to pray in your seat. Now that we are ready to pray, we should observe all the rulings of prayer as much as possible. That means you must stand for the standing parts, do ruku and sujood in their proper manner and so on.

Just a note, if you cannot perform the prayer in its proper manner and there is enough time to perform the prayer when you arrive at your destination, then you should wait until that time so that you can offer the prayer in its proper manner. But if there is not enough time and you have to pray, you must observe the proper rules as much as possible.

So, imagine you only had permission to pray in your seat. Face the qiblah in the best way you can. As long as you can offer the prayer standing for the standing parts, you should not offer it sitting. Perform takbirat ul-Ihram and recite the two surahs. If you can stand and cannot perform the ruku' properly, you can bend your head as a gesture for ruku'. And for sujood, you sit in your seat and perform sujood, making sure your forehead prostrates on something permissible. Try to perform it the best way you can, making sure the tip of your big toes are touching the ground.

When it is not possible to stand, then you must sit down and perform the prayer sitting. But if you can stand up just for a slight moment, even if it is just for takbirat ul-Ihram, then you should stand. You can bend as a gesture for ruku' while sitting, and then bend further for sujood. Do not forget, if the conditions are right, you must also shorten your Dhuhr, 'Asr, and 'Isha prayer.

The main point here is that the obligatory prayers must be performed in the best possible way within the prescribed time, and it is not allowed to leave the obligatory prayers until its time goes away.